It seems so weird that we are finally living this crazy reality. We have officially moved to Virginia and I still can't believe we are here.
We arrived Saturday, July 9th and checked into the hotel aka the Fort Lee Lodge.
Its a massive hotel full of military students and a few of their families.
After getting checked in, we unpacked and immediately went over to the commissary to get a few groceries- just to hold us over until Monday. Our room is tiny and we only have a mini fridge so we couldn't buy very much food.
The next day was Sunday and we attended our new ward here in Virginia. We are in the Hopewell Ward, in the Chesterfield/Richmond Stake. Our ward is very friendly and much smaller than we are use to.
After church we came back to our hotel room for lunch and we all took naps. While we slept, our dinner cooked away in the only appliance we have- our crockpot.
We had a traditional Sunday roast. The meal was anything but normal though. We don't have a table, so the kids ate on the floor. Chris and I ate on the bed, carefully. We used paper plates and plastic silverware. It was kind of comical actually. I have no room to prepare or serve the food. I have a small 8 inch surface between the sink and the stove top that I can use to cut up food and serve it. It's definitely squished but it's doable.
Since we just have the one queen size bed in the room, we all seem to migrate there and snuggle together. Here's some pics of Bailey hanging out, looking at pics on my phone. She loves snuggling up on the bed with us.
The older two kids sleep on inflatable twin sized mattresses on the floor and Tucker is in a roll-away crib. When we are all in our beds, there is very little floor space. Chris has to be very careful not to step on kids when he gets ready in the morning.
Here is a picture of our room, before we moved in and filled every single space possible with luggage, air mattresses and army supplies Chris needs for school.
Monday morning Chris had to be at school bright and early. That left the kids and I to entertain ourselves. We got dressed and ate breakfast at the hotel cafeteria. Breakfast is like any continental hotel breakfast- boiled eggs, danishes, oatmeal, cold cereal and bagels. The kids think it is so fun to get to pick out whatever they want. I have a feeling that the menu might grow old after four months, but the convenience sure won't.
After breakfast we did a preschool lesson. I brought lots of workbooks with us and we are determined to be ready for school when it starts in September. Of course, this preschool lesson took place on the floor with the kids laying on their tummies on the carpet, but they didn't seem to mind.
Chris got to come home for lunch. It was so nice to see him. I'm glad we are here with him. We would be lonely without him and he would be all alone in this hotel and enjoying way too much space. It's better to be scrunched in here together, than a thousand miles apart.
When Chris headed back to class, I put the kids down for quiet time and naps. Because we are in one room, this requires that we pull the curtains and turn off all the lights. The older kids and I put on headphones and play on tablets while Tucker naps with his noise machine. It's a little difficult keeping Tanner and Bailey completely quiet, but its working. mostly.
When Chris got home we went out to dinner to celebrate his first day of school.
The rest of the week did anything but fly by. I don't have a military ID yet, so I can't leave the base without Chris. And with Chris at class all day, the kids and I are stuck.
But we are making it work.
Tucker is enjoying his little take and play train track.
We did discover a splash pad on base. That was a big hit. It's not a big splash pad, but the kids didn't seem to care. After being cooped up in the hotel room for two days, they were desperate and so was I. We had lots of fun playing in the water.
There is a library here on base too. It's in the same building as Chris' school. The children's section isn't huge, but its enough for us. There is no limit on how many books you can check out so that's a huge bonus. The kids loved it. We are close enough to walk over there too. We checked out 15 books and basically read them all the first day. The kids were so happy to have books to read.
We also discovered the excitement that is the hotel laundry room. This is one of my favorite things about the hotel- we can start 3 loads at once. This means I can all our laundry in about 2 hours.
AH-MAZING!!!
The kids love helping load the front loading washers and then watching the clothes tumble around. It's so funny.
We have also been enjoying the playground here at the lodge. It's a big play area with two different playgrounds. We come out here basically every day around 9 am before it gets too hot.
Oh yeah- did I mention that it's ridiculously hot and humid here? Like every day it's been over 100 degrees and the humidity is the worst. It's every bit as bad as Orlando.
So we have to go to the playground as early as we can because it is just too hot in the afternoon. Like I will literally melt and die because it's so hot!
Everyday we basically do the same thing. We wake up, walk down to the cafeteria and eat breakfast. Then we typically come back to the room, get dressed and go to the playground where we play for a couple hours. Then we come back inside and do our preschool lesson, watch a show and eat lunch. Then its naps and we read books until Dad gets home. It's not bad. We have been breaking it up with trips to the splash pad and walks around the base.
But, today Chris might get done with school early and he will have officially finished his first week of this 4 month school. We have lots of fun plans for the weekend and I have a feeling that we will be constantly living for the weekends and surviving the week days.
Once I get my military ID next week, life should get a little better. I just feel a little unprepared for this military life. There are so many acronyms and abbreviations that I don't understand. There are so many rules here on base and we are working on learning them all.
For instance, you can't use your cell phone on base while driving. When passing troops on the road, you have to slow down to 15 miles an hour (down from the allowed 25 mph on base) and you can't pass troops at all at night. When we hear the bugle songs we have to stop what we are doing and stand still- or if you are in the military you have to salute if you are in uniform or stand at attention if you are in civilian clothes. For real, we were driving on base and we heard the "retreat song" and Chris had to pull over the car, get out and stand at attention until the song was over. So weird!!!
Those are just a few of the rules we are learning to live with.
Chris is enjoying his school- well it's been mostly orientation this week, but he's not hating it, so that's a good thing. We are looking forward to having fun with Daddy tonight and all this weekend.
I keep telling myself that we can do anything for a little while. I am however very much looking forward to November!
We miss our friends and family. I know the kids miss having friends to call and hang out with any time. I miss having my amazing mom friends around. I'm desperately in need of a GNO. But I'm glad we are here. I wouldn't have it any other way, it's just not easy. But that's OK. Not easy is not the worst thing and we can do hard things.
Stay tuned. I'm sure I will have lots of fun pictures from the weekend. Yay!
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